under arm flab

 So I have been reading a lot of post about the hanging skin and how you can build the muscle under it but not particularly tighten your skin.  Also that you grow extra skin when you are overweight or it stretches leaving stretch marks and so on.  So what happens if you only have one small stretch mark in that area?  Will I be less prone to it staying there? lol  I know there is no miracle cure, just didn't know if anyone without stretch marks, if their skin was able to "bounce" back per say.
 
I saw one lady's pictures and she looks like a rock star.  She said she drank tons of water to keep her body hydrated and runs 6 miles every other day and does I think it was strength traing and sit ups for 2.5 hours.  She was completely toned looking and no under arm flab that I could see.  So I guess if you ahve good genes it is possible to not be left with the flab.  

That flab is what we refer to as "bat wings".  That flab results from rapid weight loss.  I do not believe tha****er or exercise can prevent the formation of bat wings.  Many folks will have plastic surgery.

I cover up mine with short sleeves.  I will not go sleeveless in public.

It also will depend on genetics, how young you are, how long you were overweight, and how big you were. From your picture you look pretty young. That should help.
Building muscle will help you look better but it won't prevent the wings.
My wings could fly me to Paris.

Wings fly to you Paris - like how Dumbo could fly with his ears.... Hahahaha!

Either the skin is still elastic enough that it will retract on it's own (keeping your body hydrated hehps keep your skin hydrated, as do lotions, but that alone will not make your skin any more elastic) or it is not.  If it is not, you are SOL.  As others have said, it varies by individual: a person's genetics, age (skin naturally becomes less and less elastic as we age and the collagen structure begins to break down), how obese you were (therefore how much the skin has stretched or how much additional skin you grew), and how LONG you were obese (even younger, more elastic skin will only stay stretched so long before the stretch becomes permanent).

I had surgery at age 45 and had been SMO for a long time.  On some areas of my body where I did not carry as much weight (e.g. lower arms and legs), the skin did a pretty good job of retracting.  On some areas where I carried a lot of weight and had a lot of stretch marks, it did not snap back at all (my arms, my thighs, my lower belly)... and in areas where I had a fair amount of fat but did NOT have stretch marks (my belly above my waist and my butt), it fared only very slightly better than the areas with the stretch marks.  The stretch marks are a "tear"... which usually happens when the skin is stretched more quickly than it is able to accommodate (e.g., as during puberty) whereas skin that is sttetched more slowly may not have the "tear", but can still be stretched to the limit.  Also, certain areas of the body are just more prone to stretch marks than others.

Lora

Some people carry ALL their weight in their middle. They have skinny arms and little peg-legs and when they lose the excess, they get these super sexy legs and arms and a panni-from-hell.

I envy those people, they can either use shapers on their abdomen, or with a tummy tuck or panniculectomy thye look like a rock star.

Me, I'd have to have bat-wing removal, under-arm muffin removal, breast lift, panni-removal, and flubber-thigh detachment.

LL - You just made me laugh out loud - "flubber thigh detachment"!!!!  Must be because I'm identifying!

 

 "Me, I'd have to have bat-wing removal, under-arm muffin removal, breast lift, panni-removal, and flubber-thigh detachment."

Lady Lithia.....you have decribed me perfectly!!!!   LOL

~Linda~

@Lady Lithia - LOL. You crack me up. :-)

To answer the arms question, I think it is largely genetics. I am hour-glassy by nature, so when I am heavy, it's in my arms and legs. My breasts have all but disappeared, and what is left I can fold in half without any pain. :D

Thank GOD for all of you that we have a place we can laugh about this because there are times I look in the mirror and get depressed that I'm losing all this weight and am self conscious to show it off because of all the sagging. Of course, I am 47, so I'm not going to be as elastic as some of you.

My advice -- do the absolute best you can with with you have, but at the same time, sock money away for plastic surgery.

 lol  The boob comment made me laugh!  My grammy keeps telling me when I get her age, I will have to roll them up and tuck them in!  I told her if I loose my boobs along with my weight from surgery I will be doing it alot sooner than my 70's!!